Acts 13:18

18 for about forty years he endured their conduct^[a] in the wilderness;

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Acts 13:18 in Other Translations

KJV

18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.

ESV

18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

NLT

18 He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

MSG

18 He took good care of them for nearly forty years in that godforsaken wilderness

CSB

18 And for about 40 years He put up with them in the desert;

Acts 13:18 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 13:18

And about the time of forty years
From their coming out of Egypt, to their entrance into the land of Canaan:

suffered he their manners in the wilderness;
which were very perverse and provoking; as their murmuring for water, their rebellion against Moses and Aaron, their idolatry and the ill report brought on the good land by their spies; and yet the Lord fed them, and led them, and kept them as the apple of his eye: some think the true reading is (etrofoforhsen) , "he bore", or "fed them", as a nurse bears and feeds her children; and so the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it, "he nourished them"; rained manna, and gave them quails from heaven, and furnished a table for them in the wilderness: and indeed, though there were instances of God's patience and forbearance with them, yet certain it is, that as he was tempted and proved by them, so he was grieved with them during the forty years in the wilderness; and often let fall his vengeance upon them, by cutting off great numbers of them; and even the carcasses of all that generation that came out of Egypt fell in the wilderness; nor did any of them enter into the land of Cannan, but Joshua and Caleb.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Acts 13:18 In-Context

16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!

17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country;

18 for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness;

19 and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance.

20 All this took about 450 years. “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.